panasonic dmc-zs35w digital camera with 3.0-inch tft lcd review quotation

I purchased this camera in the hopes of using it as a decent travel camera on a recent trip to the Philippines. Based on it"s specs and mostly the ability to wireless transfer photos to my mobile devices, I took a chance on it. I was fully aware of the limitations of point and shoot cameras, having owned several in comparison to the DSLR"s I also owned, but I wasn"t looking to get really amazing shots on this trip, but certainly really good ones weren"t out of the question. However, in using the camera in a variety of situations (indoor, outdoor, low light, bright day), I would say that the results fell incredibly flat. Beyond the Programmed Auto mode (which was average at best), all of the other modes were consistently poor and inconsistent. In the lead for this poor performance was the HDR mode, which rendered somewhat average to poor landscape pictures, and absolutely terrible portrait pictures (all portrait pictures would have this "fake" skin tone). But by far the biggest issue I had with this camera was the incredibly slow performance of all menu and shooting functions. From start-up to first shot, it was always a minimum of 5 seconds. This is an infinite amount of time when your perfect moment could be gone that quickly. The same lag extended to switching camera modes as well. This became maddeningly frustrating many times during my trip, as I would have to wait for the camera to play catch-up, and often would miss the shot I had intended. I hope they can fix this with a firmware update in the future, but considering many of the "reviews" I"ve read on this, it"s not looking like there is enough negative feedback to make this happen any time soon.

After years of using Canon products, my first foray into another manufacturer"s camera was sorely disappointing, and probably one mistake I will be careful to avoid in the future.

The Lumix DMC-ZS35 (TZ55 outside of North America) is a compact travel zoom camera with a 20X, 24-480mm equiv. lens and 16 megapixel "high sensitivity" MOS sensor. Its 3-inch (460k dot) LCD can flip upward by 180 degrees for self-portraits. The camera can shoot continuously at 10 fps, and can also record Full HD video at 1080/30p. Built-in Wi-Fi allows for remote control of the camera, as well as photo sharing.

Panasonic - the company that is more than any other responsible for the renaissance and continuing success of the "big zoom" bridge camera - launched the original "Travel Zoom" TZ1 back in February 2006. The formula - a big zoom on a small camera - isn"t exactly new, but the combination of Leica"s lens design expertise and Panasonic"s technology (image stabilization, fast performance) made the TZ1 the first serious alternative to bigger "SLR-style" super zooms. And now the TZ1 has been superceded by two models with a new 28-280mm equiv. lens, the TZ2 (6MP, slightly lower spec) and the camera on test here, the TZ3. As well as the new wide lens the TZ3 also ups the sensor resolution to 7 megapixels, increases the screen size and throws in a few new features. The big question is, has Panasonic managed to improve some of the image quality issues that dogged the otherwise superbly capable TZ1? Let"s find out, starting as usual with the headline specification:

As is the case with most of Panasonic"s Lumix models the TZ1 is available in either silver or black (though this may not be the case for every country and / or every retailer).

We tested the camera’s ability to produce accurate colors by using it to photograph an industry standard color chart. The chart, manufactured by color gurus GretagMacbeth, shows 24 colors from around the spectrum. Imatest analyzed the images of the chart and output the following depiction to show the variations in color. The inner vertical rectangle of each tile shows the ideal colors from the original GretagMacbeth chart, the outer frames show what the Panasonic TZ3 produced, and the inner squares show the ideal color corrected for luminance by the software.

Colors are generally close to what they should be, but to get a better idea of how correct or erroneous colors are the following graph is provided. It shows each of the 24 colors around the spectrum. The ideal colors are shown as squares and the TZ3’s colors are shown as circles. The line connecting the shapes shows the degree of error and saturation can be determined by the direction the camera’s color is moving. The outer edges of the frame are oversaturated while the center is undersaturated.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 performed extremely well. Hardly any of its colors are very far from where they should be. Its saturation is nearly perfect too at 101.3 percent. The camera’s 5.17 mean color error score is one of the best we’ve seen from a compact digital camera, and so is the overall 11.61 color score.

The presets didn’t perform as well as they should. Under cloudy outdoor light, the auto setting was more accurate. The same can be said of the other presets. The only preset that performed better than the auto setting was tungsten light, and both tungsten and auto weren’t very accurate anyway. The presets should generally be avoided. Either chance it with the auto setting or be sure with the custom setting.

The Panasonic TZ3’s 7.2-megapixel resolution is an upgrade from previous slim ultra-zoom models. We tested the TZ3’s resolution to see how effective it is at capturing all the details and nuances in our industry standard resolution chart. Using the TZ3, we photographed the chart at various exposure settings and uploaded the pictures to Imatest imaging software.

The software analyzed the images and selected the sharpest one, which was taken using an aperture of f/4.7 and a focal length of 20mm and the lowest ISO setting of 100. More descriptive numerical resolution results are output as units of line widths per picture height (lw/ph), which describes the number of alternating black and white lines of equal thickness that the sensor can detect across the frame without blurring them together.

The 7.2-megapixel TZ3 resolved 1729 lw/ph horizontally with 1.7 percent oversharpening and 1635 lw/ph vertically with 1.65 percent undersharpening. The earlier TZ1 oversharpened images, so this seems to have been addressed and fixed in this model. The TZ3 performs better than average for its pixel count and certainly better than its Lumix sibling, the 7.2-megapixel Panasonic FX50. That camera read 1342 lw/ph horizontally and 1232 lw/ph vertically.

Good news for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3: its 7.2 megapixels capture a good amount of detail, which puts it above average comparable digital cameras.

In the bright lighting of our studio, most cameras should automatically choose the lowest ISO setting possible. The TZ3’s automatic ISO setting instead chose ISO 200 and produced more noise than it should have in such nicely lit conditions. Think your bright outdoor pictures are perfectly clean? Think again – or use the manual ISO settings.

The noise is generally quite low. Even at the highest ISO 1250 only 1.7 percent of the image is speckled with noise, as opposed to 4 or 5 percent in many other compact digital cameras. There is a reason for this though. The TZ3 applies an in-camera noise reduction system between ISO 200 and 400, which accounts for the slight dip in noise on the chart.

The in-camera noise reduction has its drawbacks. When looking at the solid colors of the image up close, it looks like areas have been smoothed over, sacrificing details. Overall though, the noise reduction has a positive impact on high ISO images. Shots of faces taken with the TZ3 would bode well because of the smoothing and lack of color-noise.

*With the studio lights dimmed to 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux, we set out to determine how functional the camera is in imperfect lighting situations. We photographed the color chart in these low light conditions and ran them through Imatest software, which output the following pictures with the same tiles as in the color section above.

The Panasonic TZ3’s images are well-lit and accurate with the mean color error staying under 7.5. This is fantastic! The mean percentage of noise stayed under 2 percent, which is also pretty incredible for such dim conditions.

Long exposures are possible on this camera, but only at ISO 100 in the Night Scenery and Starry Night shooting modes. We test all of our long exposure tests at ISO 400, and this camera’s longest exposure at this setting is only 1 second. Thus, we’re skipping this portion of the low light review.

Nevertheless, whether you’re at a candlelit restaurant, fireworks show, or evening party, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 should provide well-lit, clean, and accurately depicted images.

We test the dynamic range of digital cameras by photographing a backlit Stouffer film step chart at different ISO settings. The Stouffer chart has a row of rectangles ranging from extremely bright to extremely dark. The ISO sensitivity directly correlates to the dynamic range of the image. Generally, the higher the sensitivity is boosted, the less detail and tones captured. Below is a chart showing the manual ISO settings on the horizontal axis and the number of exposure values captured on the vertical axis.

Surprisingly, the dynamic range actually increases from ISO 100 to 200 which is very uncommon. This was tested several times but the results came out the same every time. Both the 100 and 200 settings garnered excellent results at or above 8 exposure values. After 200 though, the dynamic range takes a steep dive and then continues its shallow dip into the lesser end of the range. The lesson to take from this test: if you want interesting photos with lots of dynamic range, limit your ISO selection to 100 or 200.

The Panasonic TZ3 takes its sweet time starting up and extending its lens before snapping its first shot. The official time came to 2.7 seconds, so have your camera on long before the action happens.

There are three burst modes on this digital camera. The high burst mode snaps 5 pictures in 1.5 seconds with each shot coming 0.4 seconds after the previous one. The low burst mode took the same 5-shot burst but at a more leisurely pace with each shot coming a half-second after the other. The infinite burst mode snapped pictures at the same half-second pace but recorded until the memory card was full. It’s unclear why Panasonic even includes the low burst when the infinite moves at the same pace and records for much longer.

This camera’s metering and auto focus system are slow. It took them 0.6 seconds to get their acts together and snap a picture. When the exposure is locked, though, things are snappy and the shutter lag is hardly measurable.

Under the same lighting we performed the color test, we shot footage of a video test chart. The colors weren’t as accurate as they were in still images; the mean color error shot to 13 and saturation to 116.4 percent. The average amount of noise remained fairly low at 0.385 percent of the image. This is actually quite good when compared to other compact digital cameras; most movie modes perform far worse than the still recording modes.

The image became much softer when the lights were dimmed to 30 lux. Colors suffered with a mean color error of 15.4. The inaccuracy of the color is one thing, the awful saturation is even worse. It dropped to only 63.2 percent, making the colors look extremely dull and lifeless. The average amount of noise jumped considerably to 1.26 percent of the image, more than in any of the still images even at the highest 1250 ISO setting.

Footage of the video test chart was loaded into Imatest software and analyzed much the same way still images are analyzed. The results are output in the same line widths per picture height (lw/ph) measurement too. The Panasonic TZ3 resolved 267 lw/ph horizontally with 17.3 percent undersharpening and 545 lw/ph vertically with 5.6 percent undersharpening. These numbers aren’t great and should still keep the camcorder market healthy.

Like most modern point-and-shoots, the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 lacks an optical viewfinder. Instead, the camera is equipped with a well-endowed 3-inch LCD screen. The LCD has a 100 percent field of view that enables users to accurately compose a frame when using the monitor; images shouldn’t cut off at the top or bottom the way other LCD viewfinders often do. The downside to a camera without a viewfinder is that users are forced to frame their photos using the LCD, which is a drain on battery power. To compensate, Panasonic includes Power Save and Auto Review modes that allows users to change the increments for how long the LCD or camera stays on.

Thanks to the large screen size and sufficient resolution, TZ3 will instantly get a nice view of their images following the shot. The images can be magnified by 16x, allowing users to check focus on-the-spot. A group of people huddled around the camera should be pleased with the large screen, though it does solarize slightly when viewed off-axis. The monitor showed significant solarization, however, when viewed at extreme vertical angles. Overall, the LCD is a nice feature with its large size, ample pixel resolution, and 100 percent field of view.

Equipped with flash functions for Auto, Auto and Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync and Red-eye Reduction, Forced On and Forced Off, the Panasonic TZ3 covers basic flash functions. Unfortunately, the camera does not have a soft flash mode that many point-and-shoots offer, which would have greatly benefited the TZ3’s overpowering flash.

Panasonic also adjusted the focal range on this camera. While the TZ3 and the older TZ1 both carry 10x zooms, the TZ3’s lens extends from f/4.6-46mm (equivalent to 28-280mm in traditional 35mm film format), while the TZ1’s optics provide a more-magnified 35-350mm equivalent focal range.

To assist the TZ3’s far-reaching zoom lens, Panasonic included optical image stabilization to reduce blur. Panasonic’s Intelligent Image Stabilization system - tagged MEGA O.I.S. - is an optical stabilization system designed to reduce handshake. The camera also offers Intelligent ISO Control, which boosts sensitivity to freeze moving subjects.

The zoom lens focuses at a range of 1.64 feet in normal mode and 6.56 feet – infinity in telephoto mode. With an aperture range from f/3.3 – 11, the lens provides ample depth of field for portraits or landscapes. The lens is constructed of 11 elements in 9 groups with 3 aspherical lenses, 4 aspherical surfaces, and 1 ED lens.

The Panasonic TZ3 isn’t the thinnest camera around, but then again, who said you have to be thin to be beautiful? The TZ3 has some curves to it and still retains an attractive look. The stainless steel body maintains a clean design that should make any owner of this compact camera proud. All the buttons, despite placement, are engrained well into the body with tight seals, supplying a reassuring click upon depression. The camera has an overall luxurious appeal, more in the vein of a four-door sedan, than a sporty two-seater.

Measuring 4.20 x 1.47 x 2.37 inches, the Panasonic TZ3 isn’t the smallest or largest compact camera around. The camera bridges the gap between a pocket-friendly point-and-shoot and a higher zoom compact camera. The TZ3 isn’t made to go clubbing with and won’t fit comfortably in a pants pocket. It is, however, portable enough to fit comfortably into a jacket pocket. The camera’s tight seals and covered port system will allow it to be securely transported.

At 8.16 ounces (about half a pound), the TZ3 is heavier than many point-and-shoots because of its metal exterior, but it is still light enough for any traveling backpacker. Its size and weight lends itself to active vacationers rather than socialites who like their cameras as tiny as their cell phones.

The Panasonic Lumix TZ3 handles well, especially compared to other point-and-shoots. The slopping right hand grip on the front of the camera and a small bump on the back provide sufficient support, especially for one-handed shooting and self-portraits. Handling would have received higher marks if Panasonic had included extra rubber gripping, but hey, we can’t always have it all. As usual with point-and-shoots, left-handed photographers will be out of luck. The lens is flush to the edge of the camera, making it difficult for users to place their left fingers there without obstructing the field of view.

The Panasonic TZ3’s menu system is easy on the eyes. With an effective color scheme (red for record, green for play) and easy-to-read font, the menu interface makes navigating the camera’s functions simple.

When the mode dial is set to the record mode, the camera displays two tabbed menus: (1) Rec (for Record for exposure and focus controls), and (2) Setup (for camera settings). The menu uses a combination of text and icons. There are one-too-many text abbreviations that might have users scratching their heads. For instance, a user might have to stop for a second to realize that "Col. Mode" really means "Color." The menus also display icons that require the user to flip through the manual to decipher. For example, users are supposed to know that an icon of six squares with an arrow on top represents the Fine Quality setting.

The Panasonic TZ3 is a fairly easy to use camera right out of the box. With a target audience of advanced point-and-shooters, the camera fairs well for its handling and easy-to-read menu system. Improvements to the button placement and menu abbreviations would make a future edition of the camera a superior compact ultra-zoom.

Panasonic’s auto mode is called Simple mode, represented by a heart shape on the mode dial. As the name implies, the basic auto mode limits manual control so that users can shoot spontaneously without having to consider exposure details or the like. Simple mode uses fixed settings: auto white balance, Intelligent ISO , multi-pattern metering, and one-area AF.

The Panasonic Lumix TZ3 offers a good amount of control for recording videos. The camera captures QuickTime Motion movie files with sound in standard 4:3 aspect ratio or at wide 16:9. Users have the option to change file size and record at a standard 640x480, email resolution of 320x240, or a wide 848x480 resolution at either 10fps or 30fps, up to 2GB.

The TZ3’s movie mode provides smooth video recording with the option to change white balance setting and metering modes. Unfortunately, users cannot change the zoom or the focus once recording has started. Users can, however, set zoom and focus before video capture begins. There are no built-in editing movie functions like splicing, but users can record videos in black-and-white or sepia.

For those times when you spontaneously spot Bon Jovi at the library, a fast drive mode is necessary to catch as many pictures as possible. The Panasonic TZ3 offers three types of drive modes to take photos in succession. Users can access High speed, Low speed, and Free shooting (as Panasonic calls it), through the Record menu, Intelligent ISO, Macro, or Scene 1 and 2 menus.

With the exception of zoom, users can change most of the control options (such as image quality, white balance, and metering) in the drive modes. Burst speed is reliant on image size/quality and ISO sensitivity settings. ISO 400 or higher slows down the consecutive shooting - most likely due to the application of additional high ISO noise reduction. The camera’s High and Low speed shooting allows for full resolution shooting at 3fps or 2fps, respectively, at Fine or Standard quality. The Free mode allows for unlimited consecutive shooting at 2fps until the memory is full. A counter is displayed on the monitor, indicating the remaining storage space.

The benefit of the Panasonic TZ3’s updated 3-inch screen is that users can check out their photos on the spot. The playback mode can be accessed in two ways. First, users can view photos using the "Rev" (Review) button on the four-way controller, which accesses a limited playback mode, but offers quick access to view a photo while still in Record mode. Second, when the mode dial is set to Play, a full range of editing tools is available.

Users can view their images as 9 thumbnails, 25-thumbnail, calendar view, or as singles. As single photos, users can magnify images up to 16x, so they can check for focus and blinking eyes. Playback mode also includes built-in editing functions such as trim, rotate, and dual display, which gives a preview of two photos side-by-side.

With a healthy dose of 21 scene modes, the Panasonic TZ3 covers the basics with presets like Portrait and Landscape and then adds some interesting modes, including Aerial Photo and Underwater modes (to be used with an optional underwater housing case).

Panasonic also updated the scene modes with the addition of Sunset and Pet modes. The Pet mode is an interesting feature. Like the Baby1 and Baby2 scene presets, the camera documents the age of the child or animal after setting the subject’s birthday to the camera’s built-in clock/calendar. While EXIF data with time stamp information is already attached to every image, the pictures in Pet and Baby modes spell out the exact month and day of the subject’s age, such as "2 month, 19 days."

Users can access scene modes through Scn1 and Scn2 positions on the mode dial. Each preset mode is represented with an icon. Additional text descriptions of the modes - and even reminders - appear when necessary. The camera defaults to the last selected shooting mode before the user turned off the camera. The extensive list of presets is dispersed between two scene modes (Scn1 and Scn2). It’s not really necessary to have two scene modes, but the duo of settings reduces the number of buttons users need to push before getting the easy preset button mode that has their preferred combination of camera settings.

As with most point-and-shoots, the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 offers manual control of white balance, ISO sensitivity, metering, and AF settings. However, the camera does not offer control over shutter speed or aperture like higher-end compacts or SLRs.

Users have a fair amount of control over the auto focus system. With both single and continuous focus, users can switch between five settings: spot focusing, 1-area focus, 1-area high speed, 3-area, and 9-area. The camera is capable of focusing normally at 1.64 feet and beyond. Zoomed in, the camera can accurately focus at 6.56 feet to infinity or 1.96 feet to infinity when zoomed out.

The camera also offers a Macro focus mode, located on the top mode dial, for close up photos. With a focal range of 3.28 inches to infinity in telephoto macro mode, the camera effectively captures details at close range.

In practice, the TZ3"s auto focus system worked well in wide, normal, and macro shooting. The camera handled low light and low contrast scenes effectively, and was able to track moving subjects well in ample lighting.

Like the majority of point-and-shoots, this 10x optical zoom camera does not provide a manual focus setting. This is unfortunate since the TZ3"s large screen would offer an ideal focusing window.

The Panasonic TZ3 offers basic exposure control. It has a standard exposure compensation range of +/- 2 in 1/3 steps. With live preview, even beginners will be able to identify the exposure modes. As a safety net, there is also a bracketing option that takes 3 frames in succession at +/- 1 in 1/3 steps.

The Panasonic Lumix TZ3 offers a well-rounded metering system. The metering options are multi-pattern, center-weighted, and spot at 1, 3, or 9 points.

The Lumix camera offers a strange mix of white balance options. It has the basics - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, and Shade - but leaves out a fluorescent setting, a key setting that most point-and-shoots offer. Despite its lack of a fluorescent mode, the auto white balance still produced decent results under fluorescent lights.

The camera does offer a few advanced features. Uses can view white balance functions with the live preview without having to set it. The TZ3 also allows users to set white balance manually.

One of the TZ3’s biggest upgrades is its new Intelligent ISO system. Marked by the "I" icon on the mode dial, the Intelligent ISO system detects motion and sets the ISO and shutter speed accordingly, making the function ideal in fast-paced situations such as shooting sports or trying to capture running kids. With Intelligent ISO, the camera can focus at 0.16 feet from the subject in Macro or at 6.56 feet in Telephoto mode. There is a limit of ISO 400, 800, or 1250 when using the Intelligent ISO system.

Other ISO options are Auto (at 200 ISO), 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1250 at full resolution, a higher sensitivity setting that comes with the updated Venus Engine III processor. The TZ1’s ISO topped out at 800 (in auto mode), making the TZ3 more flexible in low-light.

The Panasonic TZ3 has automatic and manual shutter speed controls. Users can manually select from the following preset slow shutter options in the main menu: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 second. For automatic settings, the camera has a range of 8 to 1/2000 of a second or longer exposure settings of 15, 30, or 60 seconds in Starry Sky Mode. Like most self timer settings, the shutter speed is set for either 2 or 10 seconds, enough time for the photographer to jump into a group photo.

The Lumix TZ3 selects the aperture automatically. In wide shooting, the camera captures at f/3.3 – 8.0 (in 2 steps), allowing enough light to pass for accurate exposures at ISO 400 or more. In telephoto, however, the camera captures a limited f/4.9 – 11.0 (in 2 steps) that might have users boosting ISO sensitivity to compensate.

The Panasonic TZ3 has plenty of picture options, which are accessed through the main menu. Picture size depends on one of the three selected aspect ratio options:

Panasonic TZ3 users who want to experiment with shooting will be able to do so with the camera’s picture effects modes, available for still and video recordings. Color modes include Standard, Natural, Vivid, Cool, Warm, Black and White, and Sepia. This allows a user to shoot in black-and-white without having to convert color after capture through a computer editing program. There isn’t a dedicated contrast or hue mode, but the camera does offer the Vivid option to intensify color.

The Panasonic TZ3 comes with a motley crew of programs. The Lumix Simple Viewer 1.2E is an extremely basic organizer with a split-screen design. The left side of the screen displays thumbnail views of the photo collection, and the right side shows an enlarged view of the selected photo and extensive EXIF data. Photos can be divided by Latest Pictures, My Favorites (that can be selected in the camera) or by Date Folder. There is a Rotate function and Enlarge options for full-screen slideshows, but the program lacks other editing functions such as crop or red-eye fix, typically found in other basic software. While the program’s design is nice, it isn’t worth installing because of its limited capabilities.

The Panasonic TZ3 has a plastic hinged door on its right side to keeps its ports safe. Below the door is an AV Out port for television connection and DC In port for USB computer connection. We prefer to see rubber port covers on compact point-and-shoot models, since they"re generally more effective in keeping out dirt and moisture.

For users who want to bypass the computer altogether, the PictBridge-compatible Panasonic TZ3 comes with a convenient Print Mode feature, a dedicated print button on mode dial. Users can easily connect the camera to a PictBridge-compatible printer via a USB connection. The camera gives options for the number of prints, sizes, and layout. *

*The Lumix TZ3 is compatible with SD, SDHC, and MMC media. The camera also carries 12.7 MB of internal memory, which is enough to store 2 still 4:3 images at full resolution. The memory media shares a slot with the batteries.

Clipboard – Because this camera if marketed to the world traveler, the Panasonic TZ3 comes with a new Clipboard feature that captures text and graphics with image stabilization and high zoom, ideal for keeping timetables and maps stored on the camera. The Clipboard shoots at a fixed 4:3 aspect ratio and can record 5 seconds of audio, enough time to record "¿Donde está la cerveza?" attached to a map of the city. The Clipboard feature stores the images on the 12 MB of internal memory so that users can easily access the important information through the mode dial.

*World Clock / Travel Date *– This feature helps the globe trotter remember what day it is. With the world clock and travel date information, users can keep their photos accurately documented with correct time zones. The camera returns to a default Hometown clock once the travel date has expired.

Optional Underwater Housing – The Panasonic Marine Case (DMW-MCTZ3) can be purchased for an additional $259.95 to protect the camera during underwater shooting. The optional marine case weighs more than 7 pounds and allows for 120 feet of submergence.

With a price tag of $349, the Panasonic TZ3 is a good value for a select niche market of consumers looking for a small point-and-shoot with a longer, stabilized zoom lens. There are plenty of image-stabilized, 10x optical zoom cameras out there, but none retain the point-and-shoot simplicity and basic design of the TZ3.  It competes with tiny, itsy-bitsy point-and-shoots that don’t offer the high zoom, and heavier, SLR-styled compacts; however, no other camera currently offers its feature set in a point-and-shoot design.

Panasonic Lumix TZ1 – Bargain shoppers may also be interested in the Panasonic Lumix TZ1, which has similar features but not the high price tag. As the predecessor to the TZ3, the TZ1 carries a 5-megapixel count, less than the TZ3’s 7.2 megapixels. The TZ1, last year’s version of the TZ3, is fitted with the same 10x Leica lens with optical image stabilization. Although the TZ1 was introduced at the same initial price, it can now be found online for less. Users will have to forfeit the TZ3’s higher ISO settings of up to 3200 (at lower resolution) from the TZ1 maximum of 1600 ISO (at lower resolution) and a smaller 2.5-inch LCD screen versus the TZ3’s 3-inch display. The TZ1 is a viable option for consumers who want to 10x optically stabilized zoom lens, but don’t care about the newer Intelligent ISO Control or Clipboard feature.

Nikon Coolpix S10 – The 6-megapixel Nikon S10 had an introductory price of nearly $400, but Nikon has marked it down to the same price of the Panasonic TZ3 at $349. With the Nikon S10, users will gainWi-Fi capabilities, face priority, and a swiveling, but smaller 2.5-inch LCD screen. Both have 10x optical zoom with optical image stabilization, or as Nikon calls it, sensor-shifting "Vibration Reduction." The Nikon S10 also records video but lacks the wide 16:9 shooting of the Panasonic TZ3.

Point and Shooters – The Panasonic TZ3 is made for advanced point-and-shooters who may be looking for a longer zoom upgrade from their first digital camera. Basic users will also enjoy its automatic features, while mature point-and-shooters will also benefit from more control options.

*Budget Consumers *– The Lumix TZ3 falls in the mid-range, $300 category. It definitely isn’t the cheapest camera around since there are basic automatics that sell for about $100, but the TZ3 is a well-priced camera for a 10x optical zoom.

Gadget Freaks – Gadget lovers won’t be too impressed with the Panasonic TZ3, since other cameras offer similar features. The one thing that might grab their attention is the fact that the long lens camera can go underwater with the help of an optional marine housing.

*Manual Control Freaks *– Not so much. While the Lumix TZ3 has some controls for shooting aspect ratio, white balance, shutter speed, and ISO sensitivity, the camera lacks Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority or full manual modes. Those who lust for full control should consider other compacts that offer more manual options.

Pros / Serious Amateurs – Serious hobbyists or professionals would have better luck with higher zoom compacts or SLRs, but they might consider the Panasonic TZ3 as a back up camera for vacationing.

As the follow-up camera to the TZ1, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 offers many improvements. Panasonic added an Intelligent ISO Control system, Clipboard function, wider focal length and higher ISO sensitivity. The Panasonic TZ3 fills a niche market of travelers who long for a high zoom that is still compact. This 10x zoom camera with optical image stabilization meets the need of advanced point-and-shooters who are looking for an upgrade to their first digital camera. With the option to purchase an underwater casing, the travel-friendly TZ3 is ideal for capturing photos in a variety of conditions. In terms of image quality, the TZ3 is far superior to its predecessor, displaying impressive color reproduction, wide dynamic range, and solid video performance. For consumers looking for a portable, automatic camera with a long, optically-stabilized lens, the TZ3 is one of the best values on the market.

Panasonic’s Lumix G7 is a mid-range mirrorless system camera that’s based on the Micro Four Thirds standard. Announced in May 2015 it replaces the two year old Lumix G6, slotting between the existing GF7 and GH4. This also places it roughly in-line with the GX7, although in a different form-factor designed for those who prefer the traditional DSLR-styled shape, and also with a number of key upgrades over that model.

Like all recent Lumix G cameras, the G7 employs a 16 Megapixel sensor (the same sensor as GX7, GM5 and GF7) and contrast-based AF system, enhanced by Panasonic’s DFD (depth-by-defocus) technology which aids continuous AF by profiling the out-of-focus characteristics of Panasonic lenses. Burst shooting has accelerated to 8fps or 6fps with continuous AF, versus 7 or 5fps on the earlier G6. The new electronic shutter option also allows the camera to shoot in silence at shutter speeds up to 1/16000, beyond the 1/4000 fastest mechanical shutter – this is great for shooting at large apertures in bright conditions.

Movies are always important to Panasonic, so it’s no surprise to learn the G7 becomes the company’s latest camera to support 4k video (UHD at 24, 25 or 30p) in addition to 1080p at up to 60p. As with earlier 4k Lumix cameras, the G7 makes it easy to grab 8 Megapixel still photos from video, effectively giving you 30fps burst shooting. It all adds up to one of the best-featured mid-range cameras around, but does it make it one of the best in practice? Find out in my in-depth review where I’ve compared its quality and handling against rival mirrorless and DSLR cameras, paying particular attention to differences with the flagship Lumix GH4!

The Lumix G7 is a mid-sized mirrorless camera with a viewfinder hump above the lens mount. Like earlier single-digit G-series models, it’s styled like a mini DSLR, although the organic curves of the previous G6 have been switched for a more angular appearance and there’s changes to the controls I’ll cover in a moment.

Measuring 125x86x77mm and weighing 410g with battery, it’s roughly the same width and height as the Olympus OMD EM5 II, although a little lighter and thicker thanks to a chunkier grip. In mirrorless terms, the flat-topped Sony A6000 is more compact at 120x67x45mm and lighter too at 344g with battery, although the G7 is still comfortably smaller and lighter than most DSLRs.

In terms of specification and price it goes up against models like Nikon’s D5500 (124x97x70mm / 470g) and Canon’s EOS 750D / T6i (132x101x78mm / 555g). Add their respective kit zooms and the differences become even greater, especially for Canon who’s EF-S 18-55mm STM doesn’t collapse to save space. I’ve pictured the Lumix G7 alongside the EOS 760D / T6s below and the difference in height and depth (with lenses) is quite dramatic. Note the smallest of the bunch remains the Sony with its particularly compact kit zoom, although in my tests I’ve found the Sony kit zoom to be the worst performer of its rivals, becoming quite soft in the corners. I’m pleased however to report the Lumix 14-42mm kit zoom, pictured on the G7 below, performs very well for its size.

Like its predecessor the G7 offers a generous grip with plenty to wrap your fingers around – indeed much more than most mirrorless cameras of its class. Like the G6 before it, the light but mid-sized body gives the G7 a less dense feeling in your hands compared to models from Sony and especially Olympus, but it’s still a solid and well-built camera. There’s no battery grip option, and at this price-point neither the G7 nor any comparably priced rivals can claim weather-sealing either – for example, the Olympus OMD EM5 II costs over 50% more than the G7.

In terms of controls, Panasonic has made quite a few changes on the Lumix G7 compared to the G6. For starters, there’s a new dedicated drive mode dial on the top panel, to the left of the viewfinder hump; this lets you easily switch between single, continuous, 4K Photo, bracketing, self timer or timelapse drive modes. The camera’s more customisable too with 11 custom function buttons (six physical and five soft versus five and two on the G6), and each of the G7’s function buttons can be configured from no less than 14 pages of options.

Arguably the biggest change from a usage point-of-view though are the control wheels. The earlier G6 had a thumb dial which could be clicked-in to change its function, along with a rocker control under your index finger which could also operate power zooms. Now the G7 has become more traditional with two control dials, one around the shutter release at the front for your index finger and one at the rear for your thumb (with one of the custom function buttons in the middle). Like the Olympus OMD EM5 II, the twin dials have been carefully positioned to allow easy adjustment of either even when holding the camera with one hand. For me this isn’t possible with either the Canon EOS 750D / T6i or Nikon D5500, and is tricky with the Sony A6000. Ultimately I feel the OMD EM5 II’s chunkier dials are more tactile, but it’s a higher-end camera; for its price point, the G7’s dials work very well. Do I miss the G6’s rocker control? Not really as I rarely used any of the Power Zoom lenses and they don’t seem to be promoted in many bundles anymore.

I do however feel Panasonic could have made its various buttons larger or travel further. As it stands, they’re all quite small and give minimal feedback when pushed. The body is certainly large enough to accommodate larger buttons. It is of course personal but I don’t see why so many cameras employ tiny buttons when there’s room for larger ones that are easier and more comfortable to operate.

Like other single-digit G models, the G7 is equipped with an electronic viewfinder and a fully-articulated touchscreen for composition. Like the G6 before it, I’m pleased to report the G7 has stuck with an OLED panel, although while the magnification remains 0.7x, the resolution has been upgraded from 1440k dot (800×600) to 2360k dot (1024×768). This means the G7 shares the same panel technology and resolution as the flagship GH4; indeed Panasonic told me the G7 viewfinder was the same as the GH4, although the official specs quote the GH4 magnification as fractionally lower. The 2360k dot resolution is also a key benefit the G7 has over the Sony A6000 which, as an older mid-range model, employs a 1440k dot panel.

Either way the G7 viewfinder is one of the highlights of the camera. It’s large, bright, detailed and can display a wealth of information and shooting aids including effect previews, a live histogram, magnified assistance, leveling gauge, focus peaking, zebra patterns and a variety of alignment guides; as an electronic viewfinder, you can also use it for shooting movies or playing-back files.

While roughly comparable in size and detail to other new mirrorless cameras of its class, the G7’s viewfinder delivers a considerably larger view than rival DSLRs. The optical viewfinders of Canon’s EOS 750D / T6i and Nikon’s D5500 are roughly three quarters of the size, won’t show the full coverage of the frame and miss out on the variety of shooting aids. Of course the flipside is that optical viewfinders don’t consume as much battery power, don’t lag in very low light and also provide instant feedback when shooting and panning, but for general-use I much prefer the experience of a good electronic viewfinder, and the G7’s is certainly one of the better ones.

One of the other highlights of shooting with a single-digit G-series camera is the fully-articulated touch-screen that can flip and twist to any angle. I prefer fully-articulated screens to ones that only tilt vertically as I can angle them for high and low compositions when shooting in the vertical / portrait shape rather than just the horizontal / landscape shape; they also let you flip the screen back on itself for protection if the conditions become precarious.

The screen panel itself is the same 3in size and 3:2 shape as the G6 and shares essentially the same resolution of 1040k dots. The 3:2 shape is a common choice for Micro Four Thirds screens, although if you’re shooting in the native 4:3 aspect ratio of the sensor, you won’t be filling the screen width-ways; instead images are displayed with thin black bars running vertically down either side. But 3:2 is a good compromise for the screen as it means the wider shape of 16:9 movies aren’t displayed too small, and of course you can always shoot photos in the 3:2 shape if you’re willing to accept a minor crop and loss of resolution. I should also mention you can not only adjust the brightness of the G7’s screen, but also the contrast, saturation, red tint or blue tint, all in fine increments. I found the default mid-brightness level was mostly fine for shooting outdoors, although benefitted from a boost in very bright conditions.

Like earlier models, Panasonic makes good use of the touch-sensitive capabilities of the screen. You can tap your way through all the menus, drag alignment guides and the live histogram around, swipe through images and pinch-to-zoom in playback, and of course tap to reposition the AF area. Being able to quickly reposition the AF area by simply tapping is a boon and something I really miss on cameras without touch-screens. The touch-screen also unlocks five soft-function keys which popout from a tray on the right, and in the Movie mode an additional set of on-screen buttons provide silent control over the exposure; Panasonic also lets you tap to pull-focus while filming video. In short there’s little you can’t do with the touch-screen, although the wealth of physical controls provide a more traditional alternative if you prefer.

Interestingly while most DSLRs can come across as old fashioned in many respects compared to modern mirrorless cameras, the Lumix G7’s mirrored rivals are actually well-represented on the screen front. Both Canon’s EOS 750D / T6i and Nikon’s D5500 feature fully-articulated touchscreens, and the latter boasts the biggest panel of the bunch at 3.2in. But both these DSLRs miss out on assistance like focus peaking, zebra patterns, and of course the larger view afforded by the viewfinders of rival mirrorless cameras. So while I commend Canon and Nikon for equipping these DSLRs with fully-articulated touch-screens, I feel the G7 delivers a preferable compositional experience overall.

In terms of ports, the Lumix G7 is equipped with a 3.5mm microphone input on the left and, behind a flap on the right, a combined USB / AV output, a Type-D Micro HDMI port and a 2.5mm socket for the optional DMW-RSL1 wired remote control. The HDMI output can deliver a clean feed (up to 4k) to external monitors and recorders, although it lacks the 10-bit option of the flagship GH4, instead operating at a more traditional 8-bit. There’s also built-in Wifi for wireless communications which I’ll discuss later in the review.

The DMW-BLC12E Lithium Ion battery pack is recharged externally in a supplied AC unit and Panasonic quotes around 360 shots per charge under CIPA conditions. This is roughly the same as Sony quotes for the A6000 but falls short of the 440 or 820 shots per charge that Canon and Nikon quote for their EOS 750D / T6i and D5500 respectively, although remember that’s when using their optical viewfinders; switch them into Live View and their batteries are depleted much faster. That said, I actually managed comfortably more than 360 shots from the G7: on one charge I shot 345 images with the mechanical shutter, along with a further 1800 using the electronic shutter across two Timelapse sequences, not to mention several minutes worth of 4k and 1080p video.

I do however wish Panasonic would offer USB charging in-camera for its mirrorless cameras. I like the opportunity to top-up a depleting battery while I’m out and about without having to remember to bring the charger and find an AC outlet. For me Sony leads the pack in this respect, offering in-camera USB charging across its range, even for full-frame mirrorless.

The Lumix G7 is equipped with a lens mount that’s compatible with the Micro Four Thirds standard. This gives it access to the broadest and most established catalogue of native mirrorless lenses, including many great quality options from Panasonic and Olympus. While many mirrorless formats are lacking a complete range of lens options, Micro Four Thirds generally offer two or three alternatives at each common focal length – a key advantage over rival systems.

The Micro Four Thirds standard employs a field-reduction factor of two times, so lenses like the standard 14-42mm or 14-140mm kit zooms deliver coverage equivalent to 28-84mm or 28-280mm respectively. The latest Lumix G 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 kit zoom (H-FS1442AE) may not be a collapsing design, but is very compact none-the-less, measuring 49mm in length, 56mm in diameter and weighing 110g. Even the 14-140mm zoom is compact at 75mm long, 65mm in diameter and 265g in weight, making it roughly similar in size and weight to Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm STM kit zoom, but with a 10x range rather than 3x. Here’s the coverage you can expect rom the 14-42mm kit zoom, and like other Panasonic zooms, it’s optically stabilized.

Many kit zooms represent an entry-point to a system – something to get you started before you upgrade to a more capable lens. I’ve found this particularly with many collapsing kit zooms which often trade image quality for size. Panasonic’s Lumix G 14-42mm however is an exception: a lens which may not collapse, but is very compact none-the-less and which importantly delivers much better quality than you’d think for the money, including surprisingly sharp corners. It is in short the best quality small, budget kit zoom I’ve used.

Like other kit zooms, the f3.5-5.6 focal ratio means you won’t be achieving very shallow depth-of-field effects, a fact accentuated by the smaller Micro Four Thirds format. If you desire a nice portrait lens, I can highly recommend Panasonic’s Lumix G 42.5mm f1.7 or the Olympus 45mm f1.8. Check out these and my other recommendations in my Micro Four Thirds lens guide.

The Lumix G7 is a good, solid mid-range camera that feels responsive and confident in your hands. As noted earlier, it’s light but well-built and the repositioned control dials fall comfortably under your thumb and index finger, allowing you to operate the camera without taking your eyes from the view.

The viewfinder and screen deliver bright, large and detailed images with a wealth of optional shooting information and guides; it’s great have focus peaking and zebra patterns in addition to the usual leveling gauge, alignment grid and histogram.

You can control pretty much any aspect of the camera with the touch-screen and Q.Menu interface, although to adjust either the exposure, drive or focusing modes, you’ll need to turn their dedicated respective dials. I’ll cover each in turn.

The Lumix G7’s main exposure dial offers the usual PASM modes, along with Creative Movie mode (unlocking all the video options), Panorama, Custom, Creative (with the choice of 22 effects), Scene (with 24 presets including Cute Desert and Appetising Food in addition to the usual suspects), and the foolproof Intelligent Auto.

The Lumix G7’s mechanical shutter offers speeds between 1/4000 and 60 seconds, or a maximum Bulb length of two minutes; long exposure photographers may find the latter limiting. Switch the G7 to its electronic shutter option and the fastest shutter speed shortens to 1/16000, giving you an extra two stops over the top mechanical shutter with the added benefit of operating in complete silence. In the photo below it allowed me to shoot at f1.4 in very bright sunlight, without having to deploy neutral density filters. Note the slowest shutter speed with the electronic shutter is 1/8, and the sensitivity range is the same 100-25600 ISO as shooting with the mechanical shutter.

Electronic shutters aren’t however perfect. If you’re shooting RAW on the G7 with the electronic shutter, the dynamic range is reduced from 12 to 10 bits. Electronic shutters can also suffer from rolling artefacts which can skew the image if the subject or camera are in fast motion, but if you understand their limitations they can be very useful, not just for being discreet in quiet environments, but also for shooting with large aperture lenses in bright conditions. I also like to use them during timelapse sequences to avoid the constant sound of the mechanical shutter clicking, and I have an example of this later in this section. It’s a key benefit over most DSLRs which currently don’t offer truly silent shooting options.

With the mode dial set to Creative you can choose from 22 effects on-screen with a preview of how they’ll look applied to the live image. Here’s a selection.

The Panorama option on the mode dial gives you the choice of Standard or Wide image sizes and the chance to pan the camera up, down, left or right. The camera keeps shooting to generate a 360 degree panorama, which can require some practice to keep turning, but you can of course crop the image to the desired coverage. In general the G7 did a fair job at blending the exposures, although sometimes there was a visible change in brightness when the sky became bright as seen below in an example I shot from Brighton Pier; look closely and you’ll also see multiple instances of subjects in motion, whether birds in flight or tourists walking along.

If you’re recording in JPEG only, the G7 unlocks its in-camera HDR option which captures three frames at 1, 2 or 3EV intervals before compositing them into a single file. Here’s an example that illustrates how the HDR mode can be used to lift detail in shadows and retrieve it in highlights. Note the minor crop incurred when the camera assembles the images itself.

If you prefer to generate HDR manually, or simply want to cover yourself, the G7 is very well-equipped for exposure bracketing with three, five or seven frame options at up to 1EV apart; these can be triggered singly or in a burst, although not in conjunction with a self-timer. Compare this to the paltry three-frame bracketing of most DSLRs at this price point.

There’s also plenty of control over the way the camera processes images, including the chance to adjust tone curves, again taking it beyond most rivals at this price-point.

Like its predecessor, the Lumix G7 offers in-camera Timelapse capabilities with the opportunity to encode the frames into a movie afterwards, in 4K resolution if desired. You can adjust the shooting interval between one second and a second shy of 100 minutes, and for between one and 9999 frames; you can also delay the start to a set time up to 24 hours in advance. Alternatively you can choose the Stop Motion option which relies on you pressing the shutter for each frame when you’re ready – great for making films with toys.

Once you’ve captured the desired number of frames, the camera offers to encode them into a movie; if preferred you can trigger this process during playback later. The video resolutions include VGA, 720p, 1080p (at up to 50p / 60p) and even 4k (at 24 or 25 or 30p depending on region). You can also choose a lower frame rate to stretch your movie length and choose whether to run through the sequence forwards or backwards. You’re welcome to re-run this process as often as you like to create multiple versions.

When capturing the frames, be careful to choose a photo aspect ratio that matches the shape of the desired video, which in most cases will be 16:9, otherwise you may end up with 4:3 shaped video letter-boxed in a 16:9 frame. I’d also recommend reducing the image quality to ensure you don’t run out of space. The 8 Megapixel resolution is sufficient to generate 4k video and unless you intend to manipulate the frames later, you probably don’t need to record RAW either.

Here’s one I filmed of a tasty Thali lunch at Brighton’s Chilli Pickle restaurant, composed of 1200 frames at one second intervals and encoded at 25fps – so a 20 minute period compressed into 48 seconds. I set the camera to shoot 8 Megapixel JPEGs in the 16:9 shape, and also set the focus to manual to avoid hunting during the sequence.

Set to Continuous, the G7 will shoot at 8fps in Single AF or 6fps with Continuous AF and Live View, both up by one frame per second over its predecessor. Panasonic quotes over 100 images when set to JPEG, or 13 when a RAW file is also being recorded.

Fitted with a UHS-1 card and with the camera set to capture Fine JPEGs only with AFS, I fired-off 87 frames in 9.81 seconds for a rate of 8.9fps, after which the camera slowed its speed. Set to AFC and with the camera in motion, I shot 69 frames in 17.06 seconds for a rate of 4fps; only a handful of shots were out of focus and the camera seemed happy to keep shooting. Meanwhile in RAW and AFS, I fired-off 15 frames in 1.96 seconds for a rate of 7.7fps, after which the rate slowed to around 2.5fps.

So in single AF with JPEGs, the G7’s burst shooting slightly exceeded the specifications and in continuous AF it was slightly slower. Sony’s A6000 remains top-dog in this price bracket for continuous shooting, especially since it can rattle-off 11fps with continuous AF, but it’s revealing to note the DSLRs from Canon and Nikon at this price point both shoot at a relatively modest 5fps regardless of AF mode. Since the G7 actually manages to roughly match this for continuous AF and exceed it for single AF, I’d say that’s a good result for the camera as continuous AF in burst shooting was traditionally an aspect where DSLRs lead. I’ll discuss the AF performance more in a moment.

The drive mode dial is also where you’ll find a dedicated option for 4K Photo. This exploits the fact that 4K video actually contains 8 Megapixels worth of information on every frame, so why not use it for capturing stills at high frame rates? Panasonic’s taken this idea and run with it, making the initial capture and subsequent photo extraction process as simple as possible. There’s three options: Burst (which records video while the shutter button is pressed), Burst S / S (which starts recording with one press and stops with another), and 4K Pre-burst (which keeps a rolling buffer to avoid unwieldy clips to store and go through). I ended up using the Burst mode more often than not.

When you play the capture back, you’re shown a still photo rather than a video clip, with the option to cycle through the frames quickly by oppressing the left or right arrow keys. This makes it very easy to jog back and forth before selecting the perfect moment, after which a press of the Menu / Set button saves the frame as a new JPEG with 8 Megapixel resolution. You can’t save RAW files in the 4K Photo mode, but you can choose the aspect ratio prior to capture along with having full control over the focus, exposure mode, aperture, shutter and ISO.

The 4K Photo mode is perfect for capturing the perfect moment when faced with fast action, and indeed I used it below for the photo of a jetski jumping or models throwing coloured chalk in the air. But it’s also surprisingly useful for portraits, especially of kids, where an expression can change between frames.

Moving onto focusing, the G7’s dedicated switch to the right of the viewfinder sets the camera to AF-S (Single), AF-C (Continuous) or MF (Manual Focus). Like previous Lumix G bodies, the G7 employs a 100% contrast-based AF system with Panasonic once again resisting embedded phase-detect points on the sensor; in this respect Micro Four Thirds bodies, with the exception of the OMD EM1, differ from the vast majority of new mirrorless cameras which employ hybrid AF systems.

The G7 lets you choose from six AF area modes: pinpoint, single, Custom Multi (which lets you configure your own zones), 49-Area, Tracking or Face Detection. In each case you can use the touch-screen to reposition AF areas or select subjects, a feature that I really miss on cameras which neglect to offer touch-screens. Panasonic even lets you tap the screen to configure the AF area when you’re composing through the viewfinder, a job that’s easiest to do with the screen flipped-out to the side. That said, I ended up repositioning the AF area unintentionally with my nose when the screen wasn’t flipped-out or reversed, so I disabled the feature.

As always, the Single AF modes are the highlight of the Lumix G focusing experience. The camera focuses quickly and confidently even if the AF area is dialed-down to its smallest size, and impressively in very low light too. The G7’s AF system works down to -4EV which means it can simply keep focusing in very dim conditions when other cameras become sluggish or give up. It’s an important capability that makes the G7 very usable across a wide range of lighting conditions. Whether you’re shooting cityscapes at night or exploiting the excellent face and eye detection to capture events, the G7’s AF system feels very confident.

As a 100% contrast-based system, the Lumix G7 is never going to perform as well as hybrid systems when it comes to continuous AF. Panasonic’s engineers have worked hard to profile the out-of-focus characteristics of Lumix lenses to better guess where to focus and when to stop, but while this ‘Depth by Defocus’ process is indeed faster than older Lumix G bodies, there’s still visible hunting. This in turn can’t help but reduce the success rate when shooting in Continuous AF, especially as the subject moves more quickly.

That said, I enjoyed fair success using both Panasonic and Olympus lenses for people walking or jogging towards me, but as the speed increased, such as people running quickly or cycling towards me, the G7 returned a lower success rate. In my tests it was generally fine for kids or pets playing around, but not up to sports played at a high level. Of the competition, the best mirrorless cameras I’ve tested for effective continuous AF at high burst speeds are Sony’s A6000 and A5100, but it’s important to mention neither of them offer Single AF that’s as quick or that works in as low light as the G7. So you have to decide how you’re mostly going to use a camera. Personally speaking I prefer having the quick Single AF and low light performance.

Set the G7’s focus dial to MF and you can manually focus the lens with a wealth of visual assistance. You can choose to magnify a portion of the image by up to six times and either display it full-screen or in a window, allowing you to keep an eye on the entire composition too; this window can also be dragged around by touch if desired. If focus peaking is enabled, the edges of objects are highlighted when they’re in focus, which offers additional confirmation; this works particularly well in conjunction with the magnified view. Peaking is also available for movies, but once you start filming the magnified option becomes unavailable, so you’ll be relying on peaking alone with a full view of the composition; still, it’s better than just judging it visually on the image alone.

Moving on, the G7 is equipped with Wifi for wireless image transfer and remote control with Andoid and iOS smartphones. Sadly the NFC capabilities of the earlier G6 have been removed, no doubt as a cost-saving exercise – a shame since I enjoy the geeky aspect of initiating a smartphone connection with a tap, but it has to be said scanning a QR code isn’t actually any harder or slower.

I tried the Lumix Image App on my Samsung Galaxy S6. Like previous versions, this gives you full manual control over the camera with the chance to adjust pretty much anything that’s not set by a physical dial. So while the exposure mode, drive mode and AF mode still have to be adjusted on-camera, the app lets you set the photo and video quality, aperture, shutter, ISO, white balance, exposure compensation and AF area. You can tap to reposition the AF area too, with or without triggering the shutter. You can start and stop video recordings of any quality via the app, and also tap the phone screen to pull-focus while filming.

During playback you can view thumbnails of stills and videos. JPEGs can be copied onto the phone over Wifi, but not RAW files. Videos can be streamed from the camera and played on the phone’s screen, including those recorded up to 4K resolution. You can also use the app to copy videos to your phone, although only up to 1080p quality.

The app also lets you record a GPS log for later syncing with images in the camera, a process that involves wirelessly copying a log to the camera, before using the camera’s playback menus to apply it to relevant images in that timeframe. Here’s an example I tagged of Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, using a GPS log made in my Galaxy S6.

It’s also possible to send image direct from the camera to a variety of social services, including Facebook, twitter, Youtube, Picasa and Flickr. To do so you’ll first need to sign-up for Panasonic’s Lumix Club and grant it permission to post on your behalf – so when sharing to, say, Twitter, the camera sends the image via the Lumix Club. It’s not as neat as Sony’s solution which appears to post direct from the camera, but it’s fairly standard for most Wifi-equipped cameras.

Finally, the Lumix Image app allows the G7 to inherit the fun Jump Snap feature introduced with the GF7. This uses the accelerometer in your phone to trigger the shutter remotely as you jump in the air. It works surprisingly well too. Using the app you can remotely view the composition and refocus the camera if necessary, before then setting the sensitivity of the jump detection. After a little fine-tuning of the sensitivity you’ll be able to capture the perfect moment when you’re at the top of your leap. It’s a really fun way to exploit the technology in your pocket.

The Lumix G7 is a very capable camera for video, offering 4K capture, full control over exposure, silent screen-based adjustments, flat profiles, focus peaking and zebra patterns. 4K UHD video is available at 24p and either 25p or 30p depending on region, a